Project Paradox
by Sergeant Spectre
Summary: The mission was not simple. The mission involved a barely tested prototype, a paradox and sending Rex to the future, which was probably a bad idea in the first place. The mission did not involve dimension travel, nanite-free superhumans or a megalomaniacal brain in a jar. And yet here Rex was. Pre Six minus six and Calling all titans.


**_A/N: So, I got an awful case of writer's block while working on Trucy Wight, and this idea was rattling anoung up here for a while, so i decided "eh, why not" and just got writing. I will still be working on that, so don't worry about that. Oh and, quick disclaimer, I will be referring to Rex's builds by their official names, so if you don't know them, study up._**

Rex was up so late, he was up early, and catching up on sleep over the sound of jet turbines iwas proving to be a shockingly difficult ordeal. Normally, the prospect of staying up till three a.m. without consequences would have him leaping for joy, most likely with the Punk Busters, but being forced to was really sucking the fun out of it. Six was strapped in opposite him, probably sleeping, although it wasn't exactly obvious considering the glasses. Either way, he was sitting remarkably still, which Rex found impressive either way.

Two hours passed, and the jump jet landed. Six got up without hesitation, proving that he was, in fact, awake, and if Rex had the energy to process emotions, he would have been very surprised. Instead, he just shambled into the facility, barely taking a few steps inside before falling down, out cold.

He woke up in a bed that he, in hindsight, deemed the floor preferable to, his jacket still on and with both arms still asleep. His top lip felt oddly wet. He licked it, and, tasting a somewhat metallic substance, realised his nose had probably broken. Noting the absense of pain that typically accompanied such an injury, he sighed.

"Nanites. Gotta love 'em."

At that point, the door slid open, revealing Six on the other side. Rex rolled his eyes, and, with a sigh, walked through it, trying to get some feeling back into his hands.

Six turned around and led the way wordlessly, Rex following behind. After walking along identical looking corridors for what seemed much longer than it actually was, the pair arrived at an important-looking door. It slid open, and Rex had to take a step back.

The room inside resembled a colosseum, with the door leading to the spectator area, with a blast shield separating it from the arena and a lift leading down to it. Most of the exterior wall was one massive computer, with screens, keyboards and various knobs, and there was only one Rex knew the function of. That being the one displaying White Knight's face. Caesar and Dr. Holiday were monitoring something, although what went completely over his head.

But the main attraction was clearly what was down in what would have been the arena. Countless cables were lining the walls and floor, leaving only a single path from the lift to what looked like a giant vortex of cables, heat sinks, computer chips and flashing lights, with a ladder leading up to a metal platform with a large hatch in the centre of it.

Rex looked to Six. "So this is why I had to spend the night listening to the soothing sound of a jet engine?" he asked, traces of irritation evident in his voice.

"Yes." Six's voice was completely void of emotion. Rex diverted his attention to the machine in the test chamber.

"Mind telling me what it is?"

"It's a polydirectional quantum tunnel generator," Ceasar joined the conversation. "I was working on a smaller one as a pet project of mine for a while now."

Rex looked at him in confusion. "And what does it do, exactly?" he asked, still exhibiting signs of frustration "Because I slept three hours last night because of it."

"In layman's terms, it's a time machine."

Rex's eyes lit up. "When are we going?" He asked, irritation replaced with boundless excitement.

At this point, White Knight cut in.

"While I appreciate the exciting prospect, I urge you to stay focused." He said in his usual disapproving tone. "According to drones we sent in, we're looking at a nanite-free future. Your mission is to go through, contact Providence, and recover the cure for nanites. Then we will reverse-engineer a cure to give to you in the future."

Rex's eyes lit up even brighter. "I'm going to the FUTURE?!" He practically squealed, his excitement almost reaching critical levels.

About half an hour later, all the necessary preparations were complete. Rex stood atop the PQTG, goggles on, a portable biometrics scanner on his wrist and a confident smirk on his face. Then, the lift doors opened and Six walked through.

"You forgot something," he said, taking something out of his suit pocket. Looking down, Rex saw that it was the journal Six gave him after his first encounter with Quarry. The EVO jumped down from the machine and took it. "In case something goes wrong. Wouldn't want to lose you," Six explained.

Rex thanked him, and climbed back up the ladder.

"Alright, Ceasar, whenever you're-" Rex never finished that sentence as the hatch opened beneath him and he plummeted down much farther than where the floor ended.

Rex landed spread-eagled on what felt, smelled and tasted like tarmac, his goggles miraculously intact. He peeled himself off the ground and dusted off his jacket, before removing his goggles and looking around.

He found himself in an alleyway, with a chainlink fence behind him, and a street in front. Walking outside, he exited into the street, when the building next to him exploded.

Rex looked around, and, while the normal people ran, he smirked. Behind him was a tiny bald kid in a green jumpsuit and matching goggles carrying a bag of loot and laughing maniacally. His most striking feature, however, was a metal harness from which four mechanical spider legs held him up.

Rex spun around on his heels. "You know, I was hoping to get my return started with a bang," He declared. That got the green kid's attention. He rurned around and to face Rex. "But I guess you'll do," the jacket wearing teen finished.

"Who're you supposed to be, snotbrain?" The green kid asked in confusion. Rex blinked at the insult, and smirked.

"The name's Rex." He formed the Smack Hands. "Dont you forget it."

The kid Rex mentally dubbed "Gadget" struck first, exposing two mounted lasers from the harness and firing on Rex, kicking up a cloud of dust. Before the dust cloud could clear, the latter combatant charged out, striking the former twice. Gadget flew a solid three metres before revealing a pair of mechanical wings and gaining control of his flight cycle. The bald kid turned and started firing on Rex again. The EVO responded by building the Slam Cannon. He took a chunk out of the pavement and launched it at the cackling bald kid. Gadget dodged, but right as he was about to gloat, Rex was at his level, and the next thing he knew, his wings were broken and he was deep in a him-shaped hole courtesy of metal boots that could kick like a truck.

Rex dusted himself off, and was about to leave, when four mechanical spider legs pulled Gadget out, his goggles cracked and his expression angry.

"Do you have ANY idea how long those took to design?" He roared.

"Why? Did you burn the blueprints?" Rex replied, completely unfazed. The green kid grumbled something under his breath. "You need to cool it, Gadget."

"MY NAME IS GIZMO!"

"That was my second guess, actually." Rex nonchalantly replied, and grabbed one of the legs. Suddenly, angular blue veins apeared on the surface, and the legs dug into the ground and shut down, rooting Gizmo in place. "That should hold you long enough for your mummy to picj you up."

"We are the same age" Gizmo grumbled, unable to think up something better.

Rex dusted off his hands and formed the Rex Ride, setting off in a tandom direction. He suddenly stopped when a newspaper blew into his face. Pulling it off, his eyes caught the date, and widened in shock, seeing that only a year had passed.

"Wow," he remarked. "The providence lab coats work fast." He then touched his earpiece. "Rex to Providence. The eagle has landed."

"Sorry, who is this?" A teen-sounding male voice replied, confused.

Rex was starting to get worried. "Rex Salazar? Providence's secret weapon?"

"No idea what you're talking about." A disinterested-sounding female voice replied. By this point, Rex was thouroughly freaked out. Then, two explainations occured to him.

"Hey, weird question. Is this Earth?

A much more enthusiastic and overly articulate voice replied "Oh, yes, friend. Is it not wonderful?"

Startled in equal parts by the response itself and how unfazed the one who answered was, Rex just sputtered out a weak "Yeah, I guess," and hung up, before letting out an "Oh, god."

.

In the lair of the Brotherhood of Evil, Monsieur Mallah was setting up a chessboard, while The Brain was nearby, a T-Communicator wired up to it.

"The pieces are set up. Shall we strike?" The gorilla asked.

"Not yet, Monsieur Mallah."

"But-"

"To use a different analogy," The Brain interjected, "There is still a wildcard in play. We must learn what to expect from this 'Rex' before we can strike."

"But how do you know he is a threat?"

"Are you questioning my judgement, Monsieur Mallah? The title of 'secret weapon' is not one given lightly. We must learn how he can defeat us before we can defeat him. Now, shall we play?"

**_A/N: So... this is a thing now. And unlike every other fanfic idea I have rattling around up here, I actually have a plot here. A rather bare-bones plot, but a plot nonetheless._**


End file.
